Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 12 September 1835 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
1 leaf of paper folded, 2 p.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Van de Weyer served as Belgium’s Prime minister from July 1845 to March 1846. However, he lived for the majority of his life in London (17 Fitzroy Square, 50 Portland Place) and Windsor (New Lodge), and held the office of Belgian Minister at the Court of St. James’s under Queen Victoria, an ambassadorial role. Van de Weyer was close friends with Lord Palmerston. In addition to being a member of the Roxburghe Club, Van de Weyer was a founder member of the Philobiblon Society, the Vice President of the London Library, a Member of the Société des Bibliophiles de Belgique and the Head of the Royal Library of Brussels.
Pierre Henri Laurent said of Van de Weyer: 'His manners, taste, and savoir-faire brought him into the vital center of the intellectual, diplomatic, and financial communities. His home became the meeting place of writers, artists, and scientists’.
Archival history
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Autograph letter, signed, to an unidentified recipient. An MS annotation at the head of the letter reads: “Mrs Norton to Capt M—"
Norton writes that the letter to Captain Chamier should be sent and the niece, who writes so prettily, should add a line to her uncle to say that brevity would be no demerit in Norton’s eyes, but a positive advantage, and therefore he only need dictate a few lines. Norton encloses the “Ship on Fire” for Captain Chamier), and plans to send “Wreck” by [?], a beautiful representation of “death on the stormy seas”. On matters of business, £3 for a poetical illustration, not exceeding a page and a half, or £5 for three pages – but Norton would prefer the shorter length, since she has already exceeded the limits of the volume. Norton trusts that he recipient will allow his book to remain in Norton’s hands until her hard work is over - she dares not open the bookcase where it is lying, for fear of being distracted from her work. Norton adds in a postscript that she is pushed for time and if she can obtain an address for Captain Chamier, she may try to send the letter to him tomorrow.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
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Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
23.4 cm x 18.7 cm